Man With Concealed-Carry Permit Shoots, Kills Armed Robber

A 22-year-old man with a concealed-carry license was sitting in a car with another man in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago Wednesday night when two men carrying handguns walked up and tried to rob them, the Chicago Sun-Timesreports.

According to police, the CCW license holder drew his firearm and shot one of the attempted robbers in the head, killing him. The other stickup man ran away. With the exception of the armed robber who was killed, no one was injured in the incident, and police said no charges would be filed related to the shooting.

Prosecutions For Lying On Gun Background Checks Fall To New Low

A Justice Department audit of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) released Wednesday reveals that prosecutions of those who lie on the background check affidavit—by falsely claiming no felony convictions, for example—have declined to a new low after falling for more than a decade, the Washington Free Beaconreports.

Between 2008 and 2015, of the 556,496 attempted firearm purchasers denied by FBI background checks, only 254 individuals who made false statements on the background-check affidavits—an act which constitutes a federal felony—were even considered for prosecution, reflecting a prosecution rate of 4/100 of 1 percent.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Office said the recent decline in such prosecutions was the result of an Obama administration policy shift after 2012 and that it does not believe the low prosecution rate warrants a re-examination of that policy shift. If they won’t enforce the laws against the bad guys, why demand new laws that only deny the rights of the good guys?

Utah Lawmaker Introduces Permitless Concealed Carry Bill

A Utah lawmaker has introduced a bill that may make Utah the 12th state to adopt permitless concealed-carry. “I’m sponsoring this legislation because I have constituents that believe this is a Second Amendment right,” Utah state Rep. Lee Perry, a Utah Highway Patrol lieutenant, said. State law currently allows firearms to be carried openly without a permit, but if someone’s carry arm falls behind his or her jacket, or is temporarily stowed in a bag or purse, he or she is committing a crime.

Perry explained that his bill wouldn’t eliminate Utah’s concealed-carry permit, which requires a background check and completion of a firearms safety course. In fact, he encourages residents to continue taking advantage of the cost-effective training offered during the permitting process. “The intent of this bill is to not require Utahans who are law-abiding citizens and can already legally open carry to obtain yet another permit to concealed-carry,” Perry said. If passed, Utah would join neighboring states Wyoming and Arizona in allowing eligible residents permitless concealed-carry rights.

Oregon Judge Says No One Should Have Guns—“Not Police, Not Security, Not Anybody”

An Oregon circuit court judge raised eyebrows Monday when, while sentencing a murderer, he launched into a tirade against firearm ownership in the United States, the Portland Oregonianreports.

While sentencing the drive-by killer to 17.5 years in prison, Judge Kenneth Walker of Multnomah County seemed to take more umbrage at the Second Amendment than at the murderer. “If I could I would take all the guns in America, put them on big barges and go dump them in the ocean,” Walker told the defendant. “Nobody would have a gun. Not police, not security, not anybody. We should eliminate all of them.”

Unfortunately, as rational people understand, evil can’t be banished from the world by burning books, by banishing speech or by banning guns—and certainly not by making lawful people defenseless against people who violate every law known to God or man. A judge should have better judgment than that.

Maine Restaurateur Bars Patrons Who “Condone the Ownership” Of America’s Most Popular Rifle

The owner of a Portland, Maine, restaurant has disinvited anyone who owns a so-called “assault rifle”—or anyone who supports the Second Amendment-protected right to do so—from her eatery, the Boston Globereports.

Anne Verrill, the owner of Grace restaurant, posted a picture of a semi-automatic rifle on Facebook and wrote, “If you own this gun, or you condone the ownership of this gun for private use, you may no longer enter either of my restaurants, because the only thing I want to teach my children is love.”

We’re not sure how declaring millions of lawful, honest Americans to be persona non grata teaches anyone “love,” but we fully support her First Amendment right to say what she wants. It’s just a shame she doesn’t have similar respect for the Second Amendment that, after all, protects the First.

Olympic Sharpshooter Takes On Gavin Newsom Over Gun Control

Skeet shooter Kim Rhode won her sixth Olympic medal over the summer. Then she came home to California and set her sights on another target: Proposition 63.

In a YouTube ad, Rhode takes on Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s anti-gun legislation, saying she uses more than 800 rounds of ammunition daily and adding, “If Gavin Newsom has his way, it’ll make it incredibly hard to keep up my skills. Harsh gun laws like Prop. 63 are not the answer. They only hurt law-abiding people and do nothing to stop terrorists.”

Newsom’s proposition aims to further restrict guns and ammunition in the Golden State, from instituting instant background checks to requiring licenses for ammunition retailers. Newsom tweeted Rhode after the ad launched, saying, “Congrats on your 6 Olympic medals – very impressive! But, did you know Prop 63 actually exempts ammo bought & used at a range?”

Rhode didn’t hesitate, replying, “Not sure where self-serving politicians hone their skills, but Olympic shooters don’t just practice at formal ranges... But always happy to teach you about the guns and ammo you don’t trust me to own.”